[lg policy] India: Educationists debate the power of English in Kolkata

[Harold Schiffman]

Educationists debate the power of English in Kolkata
TNN | Jul 16, 2015, 01.16AM IST
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KOLKATA: The British Council on Wednesday organized a discussion on whether
English was just a status symbol in the state. Panelists spoke about the
importance of English in order to have a respectable career. The event was
organized for the launch of Aptis, an assessment tool designed for teens to
help with their English proficiency levels.

The panelists included Sreeradha Dutta, director of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Instititute of Asian Studies, Scottish journalist and writer Ian Jack,
actor and MP Moon Moon Sen, MD of Deloitte Consulting Rajeev Bakshi, the
academic manager for the English Language Centre of British Council and
Debanjan Chakrabarti, head of English Language Policy Research and
Publications. They unanimously agreed that there is no denying the unifying
power of the English language. The discussion was attended by heads and
teachers of city schools, who were curious about the assessment tool that
will test each child for reading, writing, speaking and listening
proficiencies.

Jack felt that the way they look at English in the UK will certainly be
different from what it is in India where so many different kinds of mother
tongues co-exist along with English. "As a British citizen, English is the
only language I knew. However, from all these years of experience, I can
tell you that being born in either UK or US is certainly a privilege," he
conceded.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Educationists-debate-the-power-of-English-in-Kolkata/articleshow/48091297.cms
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